


Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders

by M_Mary93



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Blood, Bloody, Hospital, Hurt Jack, Hurt!Jack, Hurt/Comfort, Jack needs his help, Mac is awesome, Mission Gone Wrong, Pain, War, Whump, bone, broken leg, damage, field medicine, fracture, open fracture, war zone, war-zone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-08 08:27:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8837584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Mary93/pseuds/M_Mary93
Summary: Prompt fic. Prompter; Lhaven @ ff.net. Full prompt inside.Mac, Jack and Riley are in a hospital in Iraq. The only problem is that the hospital is in a town which is being bombed. The hospital seems to be one of the targets. Jack is hit by some of the concrete when one of the walls is blown up, and Mac has to take care of business and save the patients and staff, and his friends.





	1. Concrete

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there…
> 
> So, I got this prompt from Lhaven.
> 
> Here's an idea for you... what about a scenario where Mac has to 'hold things together' (take care of the problem, lead the group, be the 'adult' in the group) because he has too (maybe others aren't there, are injured, something.....). And then the 'after' time when he can finally 'let down' (fall apart?) once everyone is safe. What would that look like on Mac? How would Jack, Riley react.
> 
> Hope I make you proud!

 

 

“We need to get out of here!” Jack yelled towards Mac, they were in a hospital in Iraq. A hospital inconveniently placed in the middle of a bomb-strike.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Mac shot back rushing to the elevator made for bedridden patients with, well… A bedridden patient…

“Only two more on this floor!” Jack called over the sound of a big explosion somewhere in the neighborhood. “Say, I take the one on the D-wing, you take the A?”

“Fine by me…” Mac nodded as he pushed the button for the basement floor, then got out of the elevator. Riley would waiting for the patient in the basement-slash-bunker… And the patient was unconscious, so... He wouldn’t wake up and panic anytime soon…

“Just hurry!” Mac added, before he prepared to sprint off to save one of the two remaining patients on this floor.

“Always do!” Jack grinned back.

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On his way back to the elevator, Mac had his heart jerked up to his throat. Another bomb hit somewhere near, and the whole building shook.

Mac rushed over to the four elevators which still worked, got the patient in the hospital bed into the one on the left, and sent him down to the basement.

He and Jack had agreed on going down together, the first one to get back from their last round would wait for the other. Jack wasn’t back yet.

Mac waited half a minute or so before he started getting nervous, another few seconds before he headed off to the D-wing.

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The sight that met him once he rounded the corner almost made his heart stop.

The end wall was gone. Like, nowhere in sight…  
Mac saw all the way out to the burning sky and the other ruins left by the bombs raining down over the city.

The hospital bed Jack had been moving was along the right wall, Mac couldn’t see Jack.

Mac took off running down the hall. Towards the open wall, towards where Jack would be.

_If he wasn’t already…_ Mac pushed the thought away. Thoughts like that would only make his search for Jack an even more painful affair.

He ran all the way to where the rest of the building was blown away. No Jack. He turned around and saw Jack’s body trapped under some fallen debris. Mac ran over.

“Jack!” he yelled, his hand wrapping around one of Jack’s shoulders.

Jack stirred and moaned.

“Jack, are you okay?”

Jack didn’t answer, but he attempted to gain some control of his eyelids.

Mac eyed the piece of concrete pinning his friend down. It was too heavy for him to lift with his bare hands. He checked the area around them, and saw a smaller piece of concrete. He lifted it over, next to Jack. Next, he ran over to the hospital bed and ripped off one of the metal railings. And, he drove the bed over next to Jack.

“Jack? You with me?”

Jack managed to look his way, but he was still too out of it to form an answer.

He used the metal railing as a lever, and the smaller concrete piece as a fulcrum. Once he managed to lift the largest concrete enough to drag Jack loose, he pulled the bed closer and jammed the lever into the frame under the bed. That way it would stay at that height as Mac pulled Jack free.

“Okay, ready?”

Jack hummed an answer, but Mac wasn’t quite sure what the answer meant. But Jack had to be freed one way or another.

“Okay, I’m gonna do this quick. You know… Because were in a freaking war-zone and all that…” Mac informed before he pulled Jack free from the debris.

THAT woke Jack up!

Mac’s heart bled as Jack screamed profanities, grimacing and reaching for the leg that had been trapped under the large piece of wall or floor.

“SON OF A BITCH!!!” Jack cried out, reaching for his bloody left leg.

“Sorry…” Mac muttered as he grabbed a new hold of Jack. This time, bridal style. Then he lifted Jack onto the bed, placing him head to feet with the current resident of the hospital bed. The patient had a huge bandage around his head, and the sheet that hung on his bed only stated head trauma. So Mac figured it would be safe enough for both of them to share the bed as a transport device.

Jack let out a guttural growl, arching his back.

“Let’s get the two of you to safety…” Mac said as he released the metal railing he had used as a lever from the bed. Then he started pushing the bed towards the elevator.

As they got to the elevators another bomb rattled the building. Mac looked towards the A-wing, where he had taken his last patient from, before he had to find Jack. That wing was now blown apart too.

“Thank God this was the last floor…” he muttered as he pushed the button for the green elevator.

“Yeah…” Jack mouthed, his face contracting into a pained grimace.

The elevator arrived and Mac got them in there. Then he pushed the button for the basement floor.

The ride down was long, the small room was silent, except for Jack’s whimpers and other sounds of discomfort.

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Riley met them as the door opened. But she froze when she saw Jack sitting on top of the bed.

“What happened?” her eyes were wide, her mouth hung open.

“There’s a war out there…” Jack bit out through gritted teeth.

“The hall he was in got hit, something landed on his leg. Haven’t taken a look at it yet.” Mac locked eyes with her.

“Are you okay Jack?”

“NO!” Jack shouted back. His hands steadying his thigh, even though it was his leg which had the visible damage.

“Riley, can you get a doctor over here. Maybe an orthopedic doctor or surgeon… Someone should take a look at Jack’s leg, I’m pretty sure it’s broken. If we get someone to immobilize it, it will be easier for us to move him when we get the chance…” Mac’s blue eyes was still locked with Riley’s.

“Okay, I’ll see if I can find the best one here…” Riley said as she looked over the crowd. “You plan our next step…”

“Our next step is to stay here until things calm down outside. We’re in the 3rd basement floor, and we’ve got escape tunnels leading out to four different locations. We just need to wait for the moment.”

“Okay…” Riley nodded and headed off to find a doctor for Jack.

 


	2. Field surgery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos so far. Hope you enjoy the story so far.

“Do you speak English?” Riley asked the person in a doctor uniform she deemed most likely to be fluent in English. She chose him by looks alone, he was blond… Probably European… Scandinavian maybe?

“Yeah…” he answered, with a thick American accent. 

“Good, can you point out an Ortho doctor or surgeon for me?”

“Of course I can, I am one…” he grinned and tapped his finger under his name on the white overcoat.

“Good, great!” Riley smiled, “Are there any other Orthopedic guys here?”

“Yeah, why?”

“One of my colleagues, he could really use a couple of competent hands helping him…” Riley looked up at the blond doctor, dark begging eyes locking with his green ones.

“Alright, how bad is it?”

“His leg broke the fall for a hunk of concrete as far as I know. It’s a bloody mess, and he’s in pain…”

The doctor nodded, and looked around.

“I’ll find a few doctors and nurses…” the blond man agreed.

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“Yikes, that really looks painful…” Dr. Jeffrey Turner grimaced as he looked at Jack’s leg.

“I’ll tell you what, Doc… It really is…” Jack looked everywhere but towards his leg.

“I could reduce your leg, but without cast or anything, it will likely slip right back…” Jeffrey glanced up at Jack.

“But if you had cast? Or a brace?” Mac shot in.

“It would keep your friend’s leg still, and keep the bones from going back out…” the blond doctor answered, “Preferably, I would perform surgery. But since…”

Jeffrey was cut off as a loud boom rang through the basement. The building above them had been hit, again.

“Since there’s a war going on outside, that’s a little hard to do…” Jeffrey finished.

Mac nodded.

“Look, all I’ve got down here is some b-grade first aid kits…”

“Just give me a list of what you need, I’ll see if I can get it…”

“No, Mac…” Jack gritted his teeth in pain, “It’s too dangerous up there, can’t have you getting injured too…”

“Jack, you’re in pain. And we’re going to have to move around later… We need to fixate that leg of yours before that…” Mac looked over from Jack to Jeffrey, who nodded in agreement.

“Can you make me a list?”

Jeffrey nodded, “Got paper?”

Mac handed over his cell, he had opened the app named notes. “Just write it down here, and where I’ll likely find it…”

“Alright…” then he turned to Jack, “How much pain can you take?”

“Why… Are you asking that?” Jack swallowed hard.

“Because, I could perform the first surgery you need. It will hurt like pure, unparalleled hell. But the chance of you losing your leg will be significantly reduced…”

Mac saw by the change in Jack’s facial expression that the reality and severity of the situation set in. Jack suddenly understood how bad his situation was. Not just the pain…

“I can take it, but I don’t want Mac going up there…”

“That’s my call to make.” Mac squeezed Jack’s shoulder. “And you can’t change my mind.”

“Mac, it’s a suicide mission…” Jack protested.

“I’ve made my mind…”

“Your luck is gonna run out some day…”

“Jack, I know that. But I’m going. I’m just praying that today isn’t THAT day…”

“Please don’t do this to me Mac… If you die…”

 _It’ll kill me…_ Mac heard the words, even though they weren’t spoken.

“Relax, I’m coming back…” Mac assured Jack, “You’ll be stuck with me until you retire of old age…”

The wink did it. It brought Jack out of his grim mindset, at least long enough Mac to get going.

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Mac used the stairs on his way up, the building had been hit a couple of times since he and Jack had taken the elevator down.

As he entered the second floor, he grabbed a clean bed. He would use that as a shopping cart, after it would double as a surgical bed for Jack.

He found room 258 and stacked the bed with iodine, bandages, plaster-cast, scalpels, some other hardware things from the list… Penicillin, some strong kind of painkiller that sure would take the edge off, and syringes. On his way back to the elevator, he grabbed a wheelchair. It could prove useful later.

A loud boom roared through the building once more, the lights flickered and the building trembled. Mac’s heart almost doubled its pace, adrenaline filled his veins as fear filled his body.

He ran towards the elevator, and rode it down. He pulled the wheelchair and hospital bed after him as he exited into the crowded basement.

“Here, think I got it all…”

The blond doctor walked over and studied the bed and its contents.

“Looks about right…” he turned and looked towards one of the walls. “We can use one of those tables during the surgery, just wash it down with disinfectant first…”

“I wondered if the bed was for that…” Mac looked at the plastic covered bed.

“No, it’ll probably be too messy for that…” Jeffrey mentioned in a low tone.

Mac looked up, seeing a worried expression on the doctor’s face.

“You collected some blood too?”

“A positive, three bags.”

“Good, let’s hope we won’t need all of them… Or more…”

Mac nodded.

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“You ready?” Jeffrey asked as he prepared Jack’s leg. He had the leg strapped tight to a leg holder Mac had jerry-rigged to the table.

“No,” Jack hissed, “but I won’t be more ready either…”

“Proceed?”

Jack nodded, biting down on the belt he had worked out from his cargo pants.

As the doctors worked, Jack was writhing in pain. It took five people to hold him down. He was sweating bullets, begging for mercy.

“It’s gonna be okay, Jack…” Mac whispered as he tried to calm Jack down.

“It fucking HURTS Mac!” Jack shouted. “Uh-oh…”

“What?”

“Gonna hurl…” Jack swallowed and swallowed and swallowed. His eyes as wide open as they would get.

“Okay, give him some room…” the surgeon in lead called out, as he took his hands away from Jack’s leg.

The whole gang stepped away and Jack twisted sideways and threw up into a pan they had set ready for just that.

“Good to go for another round?”

Jack started to nod, but froze, thrashed around and left a second helping into the pan.

“Now?”

“Yeah…” Jack breathed, collapsing back onto the table. “Go ahead…”

The field surgery went on for almost two hours. Jack thankfully lost consciousness after less than half an hour after the start.

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“So? When will he wake up?” Riley asked the doctor and jerked her thumb towards Jack.

“When he’s good and ready I guess…” Dr. Jeffrey Turner shrugged. “His pulse was good, strong and steady when I checked it a moment ago. He doesn’t have any narcotics in his system strong enough to knock him out. His brain is taking a break…”

“That thing is always on a break…” Riley chuckled, then felt remorse. Jack wasn’t so bad, she was actually quite fond of the man.

The doctor smirked, but didn’t laugh.

“Not the smartest guy, huh?”

“Not really thinking stuff through, I guess…” Riley redeemed, “He’s smart enough, if he only cared to use his brain once in a while…”

“Looks like that’s the blond kid’s job…”

Riley chuckled, “Yeah, he’s the brains… Jack’s the muscle…”

“And you’re the beauty…?” It was more of a statement than a question, and it made Riley’s cheeks blush.

“I’m the techie…” Riley smiled, “But thanks…”

“Just stating the obvious…” the slightly older surgeon grinned back. “Hope I’m not overstepping my bounds…”

Riley shook her head. “No, but I guess you know this could never amount to anything…”

“I know Miss…” the doctor winked, “I know I’m stuck here, and you guys probably skip from country to country all the time. But one lucky man is going to win you over some day, and he better know how beautiful his gal is…”

“Oh, he’ll know…” Mac smiled as he stepped over. “Are you pleased with the surgery?”

“As pleased as I can be with a surgery performed in the basement of the hospital, with bombs hitting the building above and the patient awake for 26 minutes of the deal…”

Mac nodded, “But in general?”

“He’s gonna be in pain when he wakes up. He’s going to need more surgeries when he gets to a safer location. But if he’s lucky enough not to get any infections in the wound, he should be able to make a full recovery…”

Mac nodded and looked over to where Jack was resting in the hospital bed he had brought down to the basement for him. Just as it was uncommon to see Mac sit still for more than seconds at the time, the same could be said for Jack. And seeing him unconscious in a hospital bed never made Mac feel good.

Just then another bomb hit somewhere above them. The building shook and the lights flickered. Then suddenly everything went dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm still getting the hang of AO3.  
> Looks like people on AO3 are more fond of leaving kudos, and people on ff.net are more inclined to comment... 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the story, there'll be more to come.


	3. Generator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes another chapter, posted on ff.net earlier today. Trying to post at the same time from now on... Can't promise I'll succeed though...

Mac fumbled around in the dark. The last bomb must have blown apart the main powerline leading in to the hospital.

"Jeffrey?"

"Yeah…" Jeffrey answered hesitantly.

"You know if the hospital has a generator?"

"It has…"

"Where is it?"

"Somewhere on the first basement floor…" Jeffrey answered, "Not sure where on the floor though…"

Mac nodded, but remembered that the room was pitch black. "Okay, I'll probably find it…"

"Well, it will be easier to keep the spirit here easy if there is light here…"

"Same way a bonfire rises the spirits when you're tired after a long hike…" Mac agreed.

He fished out his phone and flipped the flashlight on.

"Take care of Jack if he wakes up while I'm gone…"

"Don't worry, Mac… I will…" Jeffrey put a hand on Mac's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Mac nodded, "I'll try…"

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Mac was just about to enter the floor where the generator was supposed to be when a new bomb hit somewhere over him. The way the building trembled threw Mac to his knees, the sound was almost deafening.

_That's closer than it should be…_ Mac thought as he got to his feet. He would have to be quick. His chances of being hit by a bomb increased the longer he stayed up here.

It took him a full ten minutes before he found the generator. But it wasn't all smooth sailing when he found it either. It wouldn't start.

Mac opened the cap to the diesel tank, he shone his light into the tank. There was fuel there. Mac replaced the cap. He used his phone to illuminate the outside of the generator. He found a wire ripped out of the clamp on one side.

Mac fished out his pocket knife, and used the Phillips screwdriver on it to unscrew the clamp.

Another bomb rattled the building, causing Mac's hands to shake uncontrollably.

"You can do this Mac…" he told himself, "You disarmed bombs for a living, you can hook up a faulty wire…"

Another explosion sounded somewhere above him. This time it brought Mac back to the task at hand. Get the generator running.

Keeping the screw and the removable part of the clamp in one hand, he placed the free end of the wire. Put back the removable part and tightened the screw.

He pulled the start cord, and the diesel engine roared to life. The lights came back on, and Mac got the chance to study the fuse box nearby. He switched off the fuses to everything above ground.

Then he hurried back to the staircase and down.

Another explosion shaking the building caused Mac to fall down a flight of stairs. He got back up, casting a quick glance at the tear in his pants and the blood coloring the fabric red.

"Great…"

_Well, at least it's just a cut…_ Mac shook his head and jogged on. Not stopping before he was back with the others.

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"Has he woken up yet?"

"He's been drifting in and out a bit. He hasn't really woken up yet." Jeffrey informed. "Guess he'll be awake soon…"

Mac nodded. "Is there any sutures left?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Busted my knee open at the stairs, looked like it could use about three stitches…"

Jeffrey looked down at Mac's khaki colored cargo pants. One of the legs were colored red from the knee down.

"Alright, let me see if I can get that knee of yours stitched up…"

"If you just give me a threaded needle, I can take care of it myself…"

"Hey, let me have some professional pride, please…" The blond doctor shot. He slapped on a pair of plastic gloves and squatted down to look at Mac's knee. He peeled back the torn edges of the fabric and studied the oozing wound. "Besides, I'd recommend at least ten stitches for that one…"

Mac shrugged, "Okay…"

"Did you hurt yourself in any other way? Are your leg feeling okay?"

"It's fine. It's just a cut…"

"That's good… Now, do you mind if I rip open your pants a bit more?"

"No, it's just some pants our employer gives us…"

"Good… Then we do this quick and easy…" Jeffrey grinned and ripped the fabric near Mac's knee apart. Then he nodded to the wheelchair Mac had brought for Jack. "Sit down. It'll be easier for me to do my job then."

Mac did as he was told.

"You need anything before I start stitching?"

Mac shook his head, "No, stitches have never been a problem…"

Dr. Turner nodded, and headed off to find a threaded needle. When he got back he hunched down again.

"Ready?"

"Just get it over with…" Mac answered.

The doctor cleaned the wound, and pinched the edges together. He placed eleven stitches along the gash, and wiped away the blood.

"There, good as new…"

"Thanks Doc, that's some neat stitches…" Mac smiled, studying the newly sutured wound on his knee.

"Let's just put a bandage over it, so you don't fill the wound with sand and dirt…" The doctor decided and walked over to the supplies Mac had brought earlier.

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"Hey, buddy… How're you feeling?" It was Mac's voice breaking through to him.

"Nauseous. In pain." Jack revealed. His eyebrows were knitted tightly together, but he kept his eyes closed. "Feel like shit…"

"Sorry I can't do anything about that…"

"You already did…" Jack forced a smile and opened his eyes just a bit. He knew Mac would see the pain clouding his eyes, but he also knew _he_ had to see Mac… "You already did, kid…"

Mac's shoulders slumped down. Jack had seen that gesture a thousand times before. It could mean a million different things, but right now Jack would bet on one of two…  
Either Mac relaxed, which was about as likely as Jack being hit by a meteor or something in the 3rd basement floor of a hospital…  
…Or…  
Mac heart broke a little, because he couldn't be more of a superhero than he already was. Because he felt like he was the one to blame for things he had no control over what so ever… That was the one Jack would bet on, even though he never understood why Mac's mind would tell him such things.

"Mac. All of this… It's not your fault…" Jack tried his best to lock eyes with Mac. "Nothing you could have done could have changed anything that has happened…"

Mac spent a couple of seconds before he answered.

"I could have taken the D-wing…"

"We didn't know it would be blown up. And then you would be the one in my situation, I couldn't have that…" Jack tried to smirk, he wasn't quite successful. "Trust me, this way is better."

"No, it's not. You're hurt!"

"I'll get a little paid R&R when I get home… Could do me good…" Jack tried to joke, tried to pull Mac's head out from the track it was on.

"And it's my fault!"

"Hey! I was the one who chose to take the D-wing…" Jack protested, "It's my own damn fault!"

His stern expression seemed to have worked. Because Mac kept quiet for a while, before he reluctantly nodded.

"Good, now we agree…" Jack attempted a smile. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but that was because of the pain. "Any news from Patty?"

"She said she would have transport ready for us, at the location we agreed on, when the attack died down enough for us to move."

"Rescue team?"

"She just told me that we were the rescue team…" Mac frowned. "I told her about you being injured… She told me that I would have to work around that, because all her other agents were on other missions…"

"Well, at least Russel Wilkinson won't be attempting to save us…" Jack shrugged, "I guess we're safe…"

Mac chuckled, "Can't promise I'm better than Russel this time…"

"Dude, you're better than Russel anytime. You could be blindfolded, have both your hands tied behind your back and your ankles tied together, while in the middle of a minefield with additional rattlesnakes and other icky venomous ungodly things without legs, and you would still be the one I would trust my life to…"

"Thanks for the faith…"

"If anyone can do this, it's you…"

Mac nodded a little, and looked towards Jack's leg. "How bad does it hurt now?"

"Not nearly as bad as when they worked on it…"

"That was bad, huh?"

"Doc was honest in his words…" Jack sighed, looking at the slightly original casting method.

"Yeah, I feared that…" Mac looked back up at Jack.

"Say, it's been a while since the last man-made earthquake now…?"

"About 20 minutes…" Mac said checking his watch. "Maybe I can go off and scout for our way out…"

Jack wanted to protest, but he knew it was the only way they would get out of the basement. He understood that he was in no way able to help Mac, but it didn't make it less irritating. Or nerve wrecking…

"Just be safe, okay?"

"Always…"

"Hey, come 'ere…" Jack spread his arms.

Mac bent down and hugged Jack.

"Kid, this is NOT your fault." Jack whispered, his arms wrapped tight around Mac's shoulders, "And I AM PROUD of YOU…"

Then he let Mac go, before quickly wiping away a stray tear he hoped no one else saw. Okay, if anyone did, he was gonna blame it on his leg. It hurt like a bitch for sure…

He could see Mac chewing on the inside of his cheeks, his eyes more watery than normal.

"Thanks…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay hope you enjoyed. Have a nice day/evening/night/morning...


	4. Tremble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for the support!

Riley walked over to Jack. She tried to keep her eyes away from his leg.

The leg was partially covered with fiberglass cast. The doctor had fixed the leg holder to the bed, and had Jack’s leg in traction. The cast wrapped around the thigh, just above the knee. The cast was stretching down the length of his calf wrapping around the underside of his foot, it left the front side of Jack’s leg free. An ACE-bandage was wrapped around Jack’s ankle and tied to the foot end of the bed to keep traction on the leg. The wound was covered by a large adhesive dressing.   
The method of casting was far from regulation, but so was the whole damn situation. And they needed something to keep his leg still, and keep traction if they were to move soon. The cast would be discharged and changed with a new one as soon as the situation allowed it. This was basically a sturdy splint.

Blood had seeped through the pad of the adhesive dressing. Jack’s leg had started to swell and bruise.

Riley didn’t want to look at the leg more than necessary. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.

“Hey, tough guy…” she greeted him.

“Hi Ri…” Jack rolled his head sideways to look at her.

“So… Ready to get out of here?”

Jack nodded, then looked around for Mac.

“He’s not back yet. He’s checking out the third tunnel…”

“Oh… Okay…”

“He’ll be fine, Jack… You’re the one we worry ‘bout…”

“Can’t see why…” Jack attempted to joke, but it fell flat. Dr. Turner’s words still sent chills down Jack’s back.

“Jack…” Riley sighed as she took Jack’s hand in hers. “It’s gonna be fine, Mac’s taking care of it…”

“A few years ago you would be a lot more worried for him…”

“A few years ago I would be sitting safely behind a laptop, home at PF…” Riley raised her eyebrows a fraction. “Besides, Mac’s proven himself before…”

“I hope his luck doesn’t run out. I’ve got a bad feeling about this mission…”

“Can that have anything to do with your leg being crushed by a wall?”

Jack shrugged, “I’m just worried for our boy…”

“He’s gonna be fine, Jack…”

Riley had barely finished when the basement trembled again. The first bombing in almost two hours.

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“Oh SHIT!” Mac yelped and braced his hands against both the walls of the narrow corridor. Somewhere above ground a missile had hit, and it made the whole escape tunnel quake.

He continued moving towards the exit. He had to know where the tunnel ended up, and if it was possible to get out of it or if the strikes on the city had mad that impossible.

His heart hammered in his chest as he jogged on. One strike probably meant there were more to come. Probably meant that whoever was shooting up the city had received more ammo. Bad news for the people hiding in the hospital’s basement. Bad news for him.

After ten minutes or so, he got to an incline. He was probably getting close to the end of the tunnel.

A few seconds later he found a door to his right. This was the first of the tunnels to have a regular door at the end. The two prior ones had ended with a trapdoor in the roof.

Mac took a deep breath before he pushed the door open. Just enough to peek out. Once he was fairly certain no one else was there, he opened the door completely.

There was no one in the room he entered. He noted he was on street level, good thing considering all the people in hospital beds. And Jack…

He took up his phone, opened the GPS and waited for the blue dot to center. He was almost two miles from the hospital itself, and just a few hundred yards away from the location he had agreed with Patty on. This tunnel seemed to be their best bet, it didn’t matter that it was long as heck…

He took a screenshot and sent it to Patricia. Giving her the location of where they would exit. Then he went back inside the tunnel and closed the door. Then he sprinted back.

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“Riley!” Jack’s eyes glued to hers, his look telling her about all the grim things inside his imagination.

Riley tightened her grip around his hand. Her thumb rubbing circles on the back of his hand. She tried to comfort the older man in any way she could think of. She knew he was scared, if not for himself, then for Mac.

“He’s fine.” She tried to sound certain, tried to leave no room for doubt. “I think the hit was on the other side of the building.”

Another missile hit either the building or the ground nearby. Sending a buzz of terror through people there as the basement vibrated.

“You can’t know that…” Jack looked up at her with desperate eyes. “Ri, what if the tunnel he’s in collapses? What if he dies?”

“Jack, look at me.” Riley leaned forward, her face just a few inches away from Jack’s. “It’s Mac. Just trust that either luck or wisdom is going to keep him alive this time too…”

“Riley… I..” Jack had to stop himself from letting out a wet sob. “I can’t…”

“It’ll be fine, it’ll all be over soon…” Riley cooed, just as much for her own sake as for Jack’s.

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The bombs going off above seemed closer and more persistent as Mac got nearer the hospital again.

One of the hits made the tunnel he was in tremble enough to make Mac take a nosedive. He got back up quickly and ran towards the basement. There wasn’t much time to lose. He had no way of knowing if the tunnel, their escape route, would handle the bombs raining down above.

He had to hurry.

He could see the door to the basement. He ran faster. Ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

Another bomb hit, and he crashed against the basement door.

He staggered backwards, mildly confused, shaking his head. The right side of his forehead stung, a telltale sign of a bruise to come. _Great story, ran into a door…_

He rubbed a calloused hand over his face, before shaking his head vigorously. Then he placed his hand on the doorknob, and opened the door. He was back in the basement.

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He walked through the crowd, and found Riley and Jack.

He saw them before they saw him. Giving Mac the opportunity of seeing how scared his friends were.

Riley’s eyes were red-rimmed with wet trails running down her cheeks. He saw the way she clung on tight to Jack’s hand, and he could hear her muttering something sounding like; _It’s fine, it’s alright…_

Jack… Jack’s eyes wasn’t red-rimmed. No… The whole area above and under his eyes were rubbed red, probably from trying to wipe away tears threatening to fall. His bottom lip was trapped between his teeth, Mac knew why. Jack was doing his best not to break down and cry out loud.   
Mac wasn’t sure whether it was from pain or fear.   
Jack’s free hand was curled into a fist, the knuckles shining white with the force Jack used to knit his fist.

“I found our way out of here…” Mac declared as he reached the bed, making both Jack and Riley snap their head in his direction.

In a split second, both of them broke into smiles. Quite different from the second before.

“Mac!” Riley squealed, running over hugging Mac.

Mac stood there frozen for a second, not really understanding what was happening, before Riley dragged him over next to Jack.

“About time you got back!” the older man’s voice was trembling, like it was about to break any second. “What the hell took you so long?”

“The tunnel is almost two miles long…” Mac rubbed his neck. Riley’s arms were still wrapped around his waist. “Took some time to run…”

Jack seemed to acknowledge the explanation.

“So… You found our way out?” Riley asked, looking up at him.

Mac nodded, “Yeah. And it gets us pretty close to where Patty will have transport ready for us…”

“That’s my man!” Jack grinned, looking like a proud dad.

Mac smiled, “I just have to find Jeffrey again, have him prepare you to be moved…”

“Please say that doesn’t involve more surgery while I’m awake…” Jack almost begged.

“Nah… Think it’s just a matter of making that traction thing work even if you leave that bed…”

Jack accepted that, and leaned back against the elevated back of the bed. He didn’t even flinch when a new strike shook the floor.

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A quarter of an hour later, the cast around Jack’s leg was fixed in a way that put some traction on his leg without him having to be tied to the hospital bed. He was helped over in the waiting wheelchair and they were ready to get out of there.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so… Guess that happened.
> 
> And before any of you might feel inclined to throw shadow because of how I chose to describe the cast on Jack’s leg… I know that it is far-fetched… I know that it probably would have been done a differently… But let’s just say the doctor(s) were MacGyvering it… (And… What the hell… This is fiction… Fanfiction even… Land of artistic liberties…)


	5. Slow down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments!   
> Sorry I'm a day or so behind on posting this chapter, it was already up at ff.net.

The tunnel was long and narrow, and moving 73 bedridden patients took some effort. Every able bodied person helped. Men hopping along on crutches, pregnant women, children visiting… They all helped out as far as possible.

Jack helped out by pulling his own weight. He made up the tail end of the train, making sure no one was left behind.

He was tired, and felt like he could sleep for days after this was over. But years of practice kept him awake.

His leg hurt immensely, but complaining about it would get him nowhere. He just had to grit his teeth and push through it. Somewhere on the other side of this tunnel, Thornton’s transport team would be waiting. He would be taken to a hospital in a safer area, possibly back in the US, if they decided the makeshift operation and splint-cast would be good enough to fly with. He kinda hoped that. He liked American hospitals better… They usually weren’t hit by missiles when he was in them…

He blinked away a few tears caused by his leg. He was past the point of caring if people saw him crying. Hell, he had earned it. Hadn’t he? Yes, he had!

He was fighting puke raising in his throat. Vile, stinging acid. The pain was almost blinding, he didn’t even notice that he stopped moving. Didn’t notice that he took a breather…

Not before Mac came running down the tunnel approximately twenty minutes later. His hair was wet with sweat, he had a wild and worried expression on his face.

“Why did you stop?” Mac gasped for air, he had obviously been sprinting to get back to Jack.

“I-I-I…” Jack looked around, realizing he had zoned out. “I didn’t know I did…”

Mac nodded, “Your leg hurts bad, don’t it?”

Jack offered a nod. “Yeah…”

“But hey, we kinda need to keep moving…” Mac crouched down so he was eyelevel with Jack. “You ready to get going?”

Jack shook his head. “Not really…”

“I know you’re gonna hate this, but… What if I push you?”

“Mac…” Jack started to protest.

“Jack, we need to get out of here NOW!” Mac almost shouted back. “If you haven’t realized it, there’s still missiles striking above us! There’s no way of telling if this tunnel is going to hold until the end!”

Before Jack could answer, Mac started pushing him towards the exit. Fast.

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Jack was all for speed and action. But not when he already was in pain. And Mac running with him in a wheelchair full speed, that was not on Jack’s Christmas list… No, sir…

“Mac! Slow DOWN for heaven’s sake!” Jack screeched, clutching the handlebars with all his might.

 “Not this time Jack…” Mac spoke behind him, and if Jack wasn’t mistaken Mac said it with a smile. “You’re the one always asking me to work faster…”

“I swear to whatever higher power who might be listening in, SLOW THIS RIDE DOWN, OR I’LL PROVIDE YOU SO MUCH PAIN!!!”

“Relax Jack… We’re soon outta here…” Mac grinned, “You’ll thank me later…”

“I swear Mac, this is just as uncomfortable as riding shotgun when you’re driving!”

“It’s not that bad Jack…”

“WANNA TRADE PLACES?”

“You’d like that?”

“Sure would beat sitting in this thing, while you’re running it like crazy!”

Mac chuckled. Jack silently swore to get payback when he got back on his feet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> BTW, I just watched ep 1x11, and I’d like to say… I called it! (At least some of it… In one of my other fics.) OMG, I’ve watched the episode 2 times already, and it just makes me so damn happy! And Ri’s mom looked exactly how I pictured her. And Jack and her… AWWWW Please! GIVE ME MORE!!!


	6. Exfil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, thanks for the comments.

They made it to the building on the other side of the tunnel. Mac was winded from sprinting with Jack in a wheelchair, but he didn’t take the time to rest.

Mac placed Jack with a few others, and fished his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Thornton’s number out of memory, and waited for her to answer.

“Is the transport team ready?”

“They are on location.” Patricia confirmed.

“Okay, we have many here we can’t move outside.”

“Why?”

“They are stuck in hospital beds…”

“How many?”

“Seventy something…”

“Can you and Jack get to the meet up? Guide the team to your location?” Patricia asked.

“I can. Jack… Jack can’t…” the sullen tone in his voice was clear as day.

There was a long pause on the other side of the line.

“Is he okay?”

“No. He had a bad fracture, they performed emergency surgery. He’s not in any condition to get to the transport by himself.” Mac stated, trying to block out the mental picture of Jack’s leg.

“Oh, I hope he’s doing fine…”

“As good as he can, under the circumstances…” Mac sighed, “But it was looking grim for a while… Still kinda is…”

“How is he holding up?”

“He’s Jack… You know how he is…”

“Putting on a brave face?”

“Sure is…”

“Can you get to there by yourself? Riley should probably look after Jack and the others.”

“Think I can do that…” Mac answered, his right hand running through his blond hair. “Just make sure transport is ready for me…”

“I’ll let them know you’re on your way.”

“Okay, I think I’ll be there in about five.”

“Good, it’ll be good to have you back home safe…”

“Yeah, this turned into a real shit storm…” Mac sighed, rubbing his neck. “Jack needs at least another surgery. Hopefully one in a safe hospital, and in an OR…”

“He wasn’t in an OR during surgery?”

“We were in the basement, and he was awake for some of it…”

“He was awake for some of it?” Patty almost shouted.

“He passed out, I think that was a blessing…”

“Poor man, how is he?”

“Already told you, he’s being Jack… Just a bit less talkative…”

“Okay, we’ll get him to a hospital soon enough.”

“Good…” Mac breathed.

“I’ll make arrangements with some top-notch surgeons, they’ll be ready whenever Jack is safe…”

“Great, bye…”

“Stay safe, Mac…”

“I’ll do my best…”

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This part of the city was deserted. It had been attacked earlier that day, and everyone who had survived had left. A smart move.

Everything was still, silent. Except for the bombs and missiles blowing up a couple of miles away. The place had the feel of a ghost city.

Mac took caution as he moved through the streets. He never knew what would meet him at the next corner. It could be anything. Enemy troops could be waiting in the alleyways, waiting for some opponent to walk by. Mac had come across that before, and barely made it out alive.

He was all eyes and ears as he kept on walking. Looking for odd shadows, listening for any sound that could come from humans. Voices, the crunch of gravel beneath boots, anything… He didn’t see or hear anything out of place.

As quickly as he could, he moved towards the point where they were meant to meet with the transport. He had no time to lose. And knowing that Jack was in pain was one extra motivator.

A stray cat jumped out from some of the ruins, and Mac almost jumped six feet into the air. He clutched his chest as he tried to even out his breath.

“Just a cat…” he reminded himself in a whisper, “Just a harmless cat…”

Then he kept on moving.

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He didn’t see or hear anyone before he found the transport team. So they figured it was safe enough to just backtrack Mac’s route. It went smoothly, and 120 minutes later all of the patients, doctors and the team were safe in a US military camp.

An hour after that, Mac, Jack and Riley were in a plane, heading towards the US.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, finally got around to writing more to this story. That’s how it goes when you’ve always got multiple projects going on… Hope you don’t mind…


	7. Almost home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it’s been a long time since I posted anything for this fic.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

 

Mac looked at Jack resting on one of the bunks in the military airplane. They had helped him get his leg settled on top of three large duffel bags, that would work as an elevation aide until they were safely back in the US.

The older man was drugged down on painkillers, and he was dozing off every now and then. Right now, the brunet was awake.

“How are you holding up, Jack?” Mac asked, his eyes glued to the improvised traction splint.

“Scared.” Jack exhaled heavily.

“It’s going to be fine, you’re safe now.”

“I don’t know about that, bro…” Jack’s voice was trembling, he was barely keeping it together, “The good doc said I might lose the leg…”

Mac suddenly felt sick. “Well, the doctor also said that the chance of that was minimized after what they did to your leg in the basement…”

Jack nodded and brought his arms above his head. His arms were shaking, his breath was shaking… He was shaking. Jack quickly brought his right arm down to wipe off some tears, left then right.

“I’ve heard field surgeons tell fresh faced Privates that over and over again.” Jack ground out as tears started to flow down the sides of his face. “More often than not, they lost the limb…”

Mac had also witnessed that during his time in Iraq. He knew Jack spoke the truth.

They both fell silent after that.

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“Hi guys! I spoke to the captain, about 90 minutes until we land.” Riley announced as she re-entered the part of the plane Mac and Jack were in. “Whoa… What happened here? I leave for a few minutes, and when I come back you’re both crying…”

Mac dried off tears on his shirtsleeve and sniffed before he looked up at her.  “90 minutes, that’s good…”

“What happened?”

“Just thinking about the harsh realities of war, sweetheart…” Jack choked out, trying not to let out a sob. “Just…”

“Psyching yourselves out?” Riley filled in, hunching down beside Jack.

“Yeah…” Jack offered a curt nod, and looked down at his injured leg. Riley followed his gaze.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Nah… Not right now…” Jack chewed the inside of his cheek, “Whatever is in those syringes we got, it works wonders…”

“That’s good, Jack…” Riley cooed and placed her hand on Jack’s forehead, rubbing circles to soothe him. “And I sure hope you’re not lying about that, because it would be a shame if you were in pain too…”

Jack offered a fleeting smile, “Yeah, well…”

“Jack?”

“Okay, another round of that juice might be smart before the landing…”

“You sure you don’t want it now?” Mac asked from where he was sitting.

“It’s just going to knock me out…”

“Don’t you think that could be a nice break for you?”

“Please don’t say anything along the line of break, or fracture… or cracked. Anything like that…”

Riley and Mac both chuckled.

“And how long does that rule hold for?” Riley asked.

“Until my leg stops hurting…” Jack predicted, “Maybe longer…”

“What about shattered?” Mac smirked, “Or splintered?”

“Mac, STOP! Or I swear to God…”

“What? You’ll kick my ass?” Mac chuckled, winking towards his older coworker.

“Mac… Poor bedside manner!” Jack growled.

“Okay, okay… I’ll stop…” Mac grinned. “Just payback for that time with the moonshine, and you shouting while I had the worst hangover ever…”

“Guess I deserve that…” Jack almost grinned.

“You  drank moonshine?” Riley looked at Mac with disbelief.

“We drank some European kind of moonshine… I didn’t know what it was…” Mac explained, “Jack tortured me for hours the next day…”

“Well, it was fun…” Jack shot back.

“And I thought it was 96 proof, not 96 percentage…” Mac frowned, he didn’t really remember the night, but he remembered the hangover very well.

“Oh, I wish I could have seen that…”

“And I wish to never repeat it…” Mac sighed.

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*A few hours later*

“Ri, I’m gonna go get a coffee. You want one?”

Riley shook her head and turned a page in the book she was reading.

“Okay… Text me if there’s any news…”

“I’ll do that Mac…” Riley answered, giving an encouraging smile to Mac.

The had been seated in a waiting room at the hospital for what felt like forever. Jack was in surgery. A nurse had been by once or twice to tell them that everything was going according to the plan.

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Mac didn’t go for the coffeemaker, or the cafeteria. He just wandered the halls.

He walked and walked and walked. Walked around for almost an hour, before he sat down.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, well…
> 
> Looks like this is headed towards an ending… Still a few chapters left though…


	8. Lost in my head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so… Here comes another chapter, hope it satisfies you!

 

Mac sat curled up under the staircase. He had his knee tucked close, hugging them for comfort.

The immediate danger was over, they were home. But Jack was still not fully out of the woods yet, there could still be complications. Jack could still lose his leg…   
And it was all his fault… If they had changed who took which hall, then Jack wouldn’t be on the operation table right now. All Mac’s fault…

He ran his hands through his hair. His hands were trembling, shaking uncontrollably. He tucked his knees closer, resting his chin on them.

He sat there in silence for a while, trembling, crying. He couldn’t help but sink deeper into the bottomless pit of guilt.

He balled his hand into a fist, and slammed it into the concrete floor.

He gasped as pain stung his hand, shaking it as if that would help settling the mild pain in his extremity.

_How could all this happen? And to Jack?_

Mac dried off a few tears from his face, using the sleeve of his shirt. He sniffled and rubbed his eyes.

He knew Jack wasn’t invincible, well… The logical part of his brain knew that. He knew that Jack had the same chance as everybody else to get injured doing all sorts of tasks, and given their line of work… Injuries were bound to happen.

_But did it have to be this bad? There was a very real chance that Jack could lose his leg. That would be devastating, even to Mr. Tough Guy, Jack Wyatt Dalton…_

Mac let his head fall back against the concrete wall behind him. He felt nauseous. He despised the fact that there was nothing he could do, that there weren’t any gadget he could come up with to help guide the situation towards the preferred outcome. Mac hated being helpless.

He drove his fist into the floor again, with a little more force this time. He hissed as his hand flared up, then he shook out the sensation.

_Why can’t I do anything to help? Why can’t I do anything else but sit and wait?_

The muscles near his jaw danced as he fought against the sob lodged in his throat. He knew that if he first started crying for real, it would be hard to stop. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this, and keeping quiet was key if he didn’t want to attract attention to himself in his hiding spot.

He knitted his right hand into a fist yet another time, and slammed it into the floor. He hissed as the skin over two of his knuckles split open. He shook his hand again, noting that all the damage was to his skin and tendons, no fractures. That was good.

He wrapped his left hand around his right, studying it in silence. The blood was trickling from where the skin was cracked. In a weird way, it almost comforted him. He couldn’t describe it, but the fact that his knuckles was starting to swell and blood was slowly trailing down the back of his hand, pulled his mind away from Jack’s less than golden state.

In a rushed motion, he punched the floor another time. This time even harder.

He gasped as a current buzzed through his hand, but he didn’t let it stop him. He drove his knuckles down repeatedly, not offering the pain a second thought.

His phone ringing brought him out of it.

He wiped away a few tears with his left hand before he fished his phone out of his pocket. He had to blink a few times to make his vision clear up enough that he could make out the caller ID. It was Riley.

He cleared his throat and answered, putting the phone to his left ear.

“Yeah…”

“Mac, Jack’s out of surgery now… The doctors are pleased with the result of the operation, we can see him now if we like. He’s still out of it, but he’ll wake up soon…”

Mac sniffed, and smiled.

“I’ll be right there…”

“I’ll wait…” Riley answered with a smile in her voice.

He hung up and took a glance at his right hand. It was raw and bloody, and swollen. He tried straightening his fingers, only to wish he hadn’t as something inside lit up like fireworks on the 4th of July.

“Crap.” He sobered up quickly as he supported the abused limb. It felt like he had done a little more than he should have.

He looked down at the floor to his right, not surprised when he found a red stain smeared where he had pounded the floor with his fist.

“I better clean that up first…” he thought out loud, pushing to his feet. Headed for the nearest bathroom for some paper towels and water.

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“Where is he?” Mac sked a little breathlessly as he jogged into the waiting area. He was looking at Riley.

“Right up the hall…” Riley answered as she gathered up her belongings and headed for the hall. “Why is your hand bloody?”

Mac glanced down at his hand cringing at the sight.

“Yeah, I…” Mac trailed off, not really sure of what had happened himself.

“You what?”

“I got lost in my own head…” Mac settled for.

“Did you hit anyone?”

“Not anyone…” Mac sighed.

“Something then?”

“Floor…”

“Sounds like the highlight of your week…”

Mac shrugged. Holding his hand up to take a good look at it, something he hadn’t done already.

“That looks pretty bad…” Riley stated with concern. “It’s really swollen…”

“Yeaaaah…” Mac dragged the word out as long as it would reach, “I should probably have it checked out… That’s what you’re getting at, right?”

“Starting to read minds now too, Mac?” Riley chuckled.

They shared a look as they walked down the hallway, towards the room Jack was located at.

“But yeah, if you don’t let someone take a look at it by yourself, then I’ll personally make sure you get it looked at. And I’ll use force if I have to…”  Riley threatened, giving Mac a serious look.

“Okay, okay…” Mac his hands up in surrender, “I’ll go… But only after Jack wakes up… No need to twist my hand…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, managed to post another chapter today. Hope y’all liked it.


	9. GOOD STUFF

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Again, just me…

 

They entered the room to find Jack, still unconscious. His left leg was trapped in some steel cage, all the way from his foot to his upper thigh. The wounds were covered by thick bandages, still pristine and white. 

Riley felt Mac tense up beside her. She wrapped a hand around Mac’s left bicep, pulling them closer together, pulling him back out of his head.

“He’s fine, Mac…” she whispered leaning her head on his shoulder. “He’ll be just fine…”

Mac’s eyes were glued to the steel frame. The pin connected to it were holding small pieces of Jack’s bones together. Mac would have expected that from the lower leg, but not from the thigh.

He felt Riley tug him towards Jack’s bed. He followed.

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Jack wasn’t quite sure what had happened the first time he came to. He just knew one thing… Someone had put him on the good stuff! The kind where you couldn’t even feel your face after a few minutes.

If he had been in a less intoxicated state, a normal response to such a finding  might have been to start worrying about how it was all going to feel when they started giving you less of whatever made you high as a kite.

He managed to get his eyes set to half-mast and grinned when he saw Riley and Mac beside him.

“You two are cute…” he drawled out, “You’d make a cute couple…”

Mac and Riley was left baffled.

“What did you say they put him on?” Mac silently whispered to Riley.

“I don’t know…” Riley whispered back, “Obviously something strong…”

“I mean it!” Jack spoke up, a little louder, “The two of you would make cute babies… I could be Uncle JD…”

Both Mac and Riley chuckled at Jack’s ramblings.

“More like grandpa…” Riley picked up, nudging Jack’s shoulder. “How are you feeling, old-timer?”

“I feel nothing…” Jack drawled with a Texan accent thicker than usual, “Except… Think I’m on a cloud… Feels cloudy…”

“Do you remember what happened, Jack?” Mac asked, his left hand wrapped around Jack’s left.

“YES.” Jack stated with false determination, before his shoulders slumped and he rubbed at his eyes. “No, kid… I don’t have the faintest of clues to as to why I’m on a cloud…”

“You’re in the hospital, Jack…”

Jack seemed to sober up ever so slightly at that.

“Hospital…” Jack looked at them with big, brown eyes, “That’s never good…”

Mac shook his head in agreement.

“But really, you two would be a great couple…” Jack grinned again, and let his eyes fall closed. A few seconds later, he was snoring softly.

Then Riley turned to Mac, “Okay, so Jack apparently ship us…”

“Man, he’s drugged up…”

Riley nodded, “But now… As your fantasy match, I have to order you to get that hand of yours checked out. Okay? ‘Honey?’”

Mac grinned at Riley’s jab towards Jack’s drunken ramblings.

“Okay, ‘darlin’’”

“Should we use this against him when he’s more like himself?” Riley asked, with a devious smirk.

“It would be fun…” Mac thought out loud, looking over at their sleeping friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, hope you got a little bit of laughter out of this one.


	10. Meeting the guys from LAB, pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm going to enter two of my OC's in this chapter. Because I really want you to meet my good friends… I'll try not to confuse you…

Alex sat in the waiting area glaring down at the brand new cast on his hand. He almost wanted to strangle his brother the next time he saw him, but he knew that wouldn't change what had happened, and that he would struggle with the task… So… He would get his revenge later.

He rubbed the two free fingers of his left hand. His ring- and pinky-finger were the only two digits not encased in the black fiberglass cast. It was going to be a long couple of months. The worst part was that he probably would be off duty for all that time, and all Kim got was a cut worth maybe twelve stitches.

Alex looked up just in time to see a young man, about his age, come through the doors with a similar cast. The man found a seat on the other side of the table to his right. It was a bit strange for the man to sit down so close to Alex, given that he was the only person in the waiting area. But Alex chalked it up to the fact that he sat by the table with them most magazines.

Alex knew almost all the ways one could end up in those specific casts. The ones used when the metacarpals were fractured, and judging by the boy's look, he wasn't much of a fighter.

"How'd you break your hand?" he asked, not caring too much about the fact that such a question from a total stranger could seem a little weird.

The blond looked up and Alex could see that the blond had been crying not too long ago, maybe because of the pain? Hand injuries tended to be painful…

"Excuse me?"

"Just curious…" Alex offered a smile and lifted his own casted hand, "We've got the same cast… Almost. And instead of sitting here staring at the wall, I thought we could talk battle-stories?"

He didn't miss the small smirk crossing the blond man's lips. So he guessed it was okay for him to continue speaking.

"I'm Alexander Cole, by the way… Alex for short, AC if you'd like…"

The blond guy smiled and angled himself towards him, "My name's MacGyver. Most people just call me Mac…"

"Nice to meet you, Mac. I'd shake your hand, but I see a slight logistics problem with that…" Alex grinned, gesturing to the casts. "How 'bout a fist-bump instead?"

Mac looked a bit confused, but bumped the fist offered.

"So, looks like you're finished here…" Mac nodded towards the black cast on Alex' arm. "Are you waiting for someone, or do you just enjoy hospitals enough to sit around in the waiting areas?"

"Oh, no… I hate hospitals…" Alex answered, frowning to punctuate the statement, "I'm just waiting for my bonehead twin… He's getting a few stitches."

"Bonehead twin?"

"Yeah, he's the reason for this cast…" Alex sighed.

"Okay? You punch him or something?"

"No…" Alex crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back, "But he cut down a load-bearing beam. Some of the load landed on my arm…"

"Ouch…"

Alex nodded. "Well, at least it's only a couple of fractures… How 'bout you?"

"Uh… Drove my fist into the floor too fast, because I… Uh… I…"

Alex understood there was some backstory there, that might be a little too tough to speak about. After all, not everyone did what he and his brother did.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…"

"Thanks, but really… I just lost my cool for a minute. My best friend landed himself in here with a badly injured leg…"

"That SUCKS…" Alex sighed, and watched as MacGyver tensed up beside him. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Mac swallowed to keep his tears at bay. "Just, Jack… My friend, he uses that phrase… A lot… And the last 48 hours or so have really, sucked…"

"You want to talk it out?" Alex asked, leaning towards Mac, "I'm good at talking, and listening…"

"I don't think I can…"

"Okay…" Alex nodded, leaning back to his previous position.

"Just not ready for it yet…" Mac added, a small lie. He wasn't really allowed to talk about it.

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"Alex, there you are!" a man with a real whiskey-voice said, "I've been looking all… MacGyver?"

"Major Rennings?" Mac's eyebrows shot up as he saw who had just spoken his name.

"Wait? You two know each other?"

"Yeah, this kid is the one Pena taught after you and your brother." Rennings explained, earning himself an understanding nod from Alex. Then he turned to Mac. "How are you doing, son? Still with the military? If you ever get tired of it, I've got a job that would fit you like a glove!"

"No, I'm working for a think-tank… Phoenix Foundation…"

Rennings chuckled. Honest to God, chuckled. "Son… There's a little thing you should know about me… I know what the old DXS really does…"

Mac's face went blank.

"Don't you worry, I'm with the LAB…"

"The League of…"Mac started, but cut himself off.

"Yeah, that LAB…" former Major Rennings nodded, "So, you're with the Phoenix… Good for you, I hope Thornton is treating you right."

"Can either of you please tell me what's going on? Because I'm confused…" Alex shot in, "What is the Phoenix Foundation? What is DXS? And how the hell do you know about the LAB?"

"Pena told me…"

"He was one of our best agents once upon a time… These two… Well, Alex and his twin, are showing great potential to become just as great." Rennings paused to sigh, "If they don't screw up enough to get themselves killed before they hit 27…"

Mac didn't know how to react or respond to that.

"Okay, so… We get injured, a little more than usual… I know that..." Alex almost growled at his superior, "But we have a success rate not even you reached when you were in the field!"

"Yeah, and I only landed myself at the hospital four times after missions…" Rennings scowled back. "You're good, Alex. There is nothing I can say on that, but you and your brother… You are the most reckless people I know."

"Oh, thank you… You know, the normal make a living, the deranged make history!" Alex chuckled. "And what is DXS? You didn't answer that one…"

"That's the Department of External Services…" Kim answered as he also entered the waiting area. "They switched names to the Phoenix Foundation after one of the agents compromised them…"

"How do you know that?" Alex almost shouted in confusion at his twin.

"Well, if you EVER actually listened during briefings, you'd remember it too…" Kim rolled his eyes, "Why are we talking about them? Don't tell me you're teaming us up with them for a mission Ren? You do remember what happened the last time you teamed us with anyone?"

"Oh, I wish I could forget…" Rennings sighed, running his hand over his face.

Alex smirked, and looked at Mac.

"No… We're talking about the Phoenix because I recognized this young man over here… Turns out he works for them now." Rennings continued, stepping aside so he gave Kim a clear view of Mac, "MacGyver, he…"

"Worked with Pena? Right?" Kim smiled and stepped over to shake Mac's hand, "Pena spoke fondly of you the last couple of times I talked to him. You're some kind of genius, aren't you?"

Mac blushed, and looked down. "No, I'm… I'm just good at improvising."

"No, that's not what Pena said…" Alex smirked, "He told us you once fixed your jeep with some gauze, a trigger-pin and cinnamon… That's impressive…"

Mac nodded, "Well, it was just a torn fan-belt, a sparkplug which didn't spark and a small crack in the radiator…"

"Not everyone would have been able to solve those problems, at least not in Afghanistan…" Kim justified, "So… You work for PF? Cool."

"Well, as far as I've heard, the LAB isn't so bad either…" Mac smiled.

"No…" Alex shrugged, "Only thing I'd like to change is that we have to do all our own transport… Do you have to do that?"

"Only sometimes…" Mac shrugged, "On location, we have to… But the foundation deal with transport to and from countries."

Alex sighed, "Well, that's one thing to write home about. 'Hey, dad… The guys as this other secret agency don't have to fly by themselves. I know we can afford it… Hire some damn pilots!'… He would probably flip…"

Kim laughed, "Yeah, or hire some pilots…"

"Not likely…"

"Yeah… I don't agree…"

Alex frowned and stared long and hard at his brother.

"I kinda told him we didn't need any pilots... Because we both know how to fly a plane… And you like driving stuff…"

"I like steering things with engines, yeah…" Alex nodded, before he glared at Kim with a stare that could have killed a lesser man. "I do not, however, like it so much that I prefer it over much needed sleep after missions, little brother…"

"Two minutes, man… Two minutes…"

"You're still the kid brother…" Alex stuck out his tongue.

"Sure doesn't seem that way…" Kim grouched, "And you are free to let me know that you are tired. I can drive, or fly, or whatever…"

"And I kinda want to actually come home after missions, not in a beauty-bag…"

"I crashed a helicopter ONE time, and the tail rotor was stuck…" Kim bit back, "No one died… And it's called body bag…"

"I know that!" Alex grinned, "But with me inside, it would have been a beauty bag…"

Kim just rolled his eyes, and addressed Mac "Excuse my brother, I think he hit his head a little too hard falling out of a shopping cart when he was a toddler… He can be a decent human being… Once in a while…"

Mac bit back a laugh, and nodded. "It's all good… I actually think the two of you would get along with my teammate pretty good…"

"I think you just insulted your teammate…" Kim smirked, "But it could be fun…"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so…
> 
> Alex and Kim are two characters I've been writing for almost 2 years now. Except, I've mostly written them in Norwegian (which is a suicide mission of its own), so when I was about to start this I realized… How do my boys even act in English?  
> They didn't end up exactly as their Norwegian versions, because they usually don't bitch as much at each other… But that could be the situation they were in here too…
> 
> Hope you enjoyed…
> 
> (BTW: LAB – League of Agents and Bomb-technicians. Because I wanted it to spell LAB, and my imagination failed to come up with something better…)


	11. Meeting the guys from LAB, pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so… Looks like most of you didn't have anything against Alex and Kim… That's good for me *smiles*
> 
> One of you even wanted me to make more stories with them, so… I guess that could be happening sometime soon?
> 
> Oh, and: Thanks for all the comments so far!

 

"So, Jack's your teammate?" Alex asked, "Did he get hurt on a mission?"

Mac nodded, "The building we were in got hit up by missiles, a hunk of concrete landed on Jack's leg…"

Kim grimaced as he imagined the incident, "Man, that sounds horrible…"

"Yeah, he… He…" Mac had to stop and swallow to keep his voice from breaking, "Thankfully it looks like he'll be able to keep his leg."

"It was that bad, huh?" Alex almost winced in sympathy.

"Mhmm…" Mac nodded, and quickly swiped away a runaway tear. "Yeah…"

"I probably would have lost my cool too…" Alex admitted and nudged Mac's knee, then he cast a glance up at his twin brother. "Probably sooner too…"

"So, Jack… He's here, right?" Kim asked, "At the hospital?"

"Yeah, he's in the ICU… Drugged out of his wits…"

"That's usually how they like to keep you in the ICU…" Kim smirked, and looked at his brother. "But then again, the less he has to actually feel, the better…"

Mac nodded, "He sure felt it when we were out there…"

"I bet…" Kim nodded and rubbed his right shoulder.

They all fell silent for about a minute, before Mac got up.

"I should probably get back to him… Riley must be tired of watching over him by herself…" he explained and looked down at his cast, "Do you two live here in the city?"

Both of the twins shook their heads.

"No… We have a place in San Francisco…" Alex smiled.

"And in Vancouver…" Kim added, "But usually when we're off missions, we travel back home to our family in Norway. Try to fool our mom into thinking we're with the Red Cross or something…"

"Weird thing is, it looks like she still believes in that crap…" Alex grinned, "Was a little hard last time both of us got shot…"

"I can imagine that…" Mac nodded, "I got shot about a year ago, had to be real careful around my roomie…"

Alex nodded, "Yeah, we waited a month or so before we traveled back home, but… Let's face it, before Lisa and John turns 18, we won't be able to wear shorts, or go shirtless…"

"It all changes after that?" Mac asked.

Kim nodded, "Yeah… It's kind of a family business deal with us…"

"Our oldest, younger brother have joined the LAB. He's more of a lab-rat, but he's with the team… Our two youngest siblings will be recruited when they turn 18, and then we can tell our mom all about this."

"Yeah, and that our dad is very much alive, and is one of the bosses for an international agency which terminates a whole bunch of threats the common man has never heard of… She'll be pissed."

"Okay-okay? So? Your dad is running LAB?"

"Kinda, he and another dude."

"So your dad is also your boss?"

"Not quite, we made an agreement that we have Rennings as our boss. The board agreed to it…"

"Okay, and why does your family think your dad is dead?"

"Long story… He did it to protect us when he got promoted to a higher level back in 2001…" Kim explained quickly.

"I was so damn pissed when it turned out he was alive all along." Alex shot in, "All I could see when I looked at him was betrayal… But turns out, he's actually a good guy. Took me a couple of years to realize that…"

Kim nodded in agreement.

"Okay…" Mac looked at the both of his new friends, "Hope I'll see you around, at least…"

"Right back at you!" Kim winked, and waited for Mac to exit the room completely.

But Mac stood there, frozen.

The Cole twins didn't make a move for a few seconds, well… At least until it got weird…'

"Hey man…" Alex started, pushing himself to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Kim also rose up, and followed Alex over to Mac.

"Thought you were about to go visit Jack…"

Mac turned his head to look at them, a trace of terror in his eyes. "I can't…"

"Of course you can…" Alex smiled a friendly smile, "No one is keeping you from it… Just g"

The oldest of the twins were cut off as the younger twin's elbow connected with his ribs. "Ouch!"

"I think that he's saying something else, dumbass…" Kim almost growled.

"Okay, okay…" Alex pressed his good hand over his ribs, "You're saying that your feet got glued to the floor…"

Mac nodded, slightly lost in his own mind.

"We could join you?" Alex offered, still rubbing a hand over his ribs, "If that would help?"

Mac looked up at the taller twins, "I don't know…"

"Come on, we'd love to meet him. And whoever Riley is…" Alex stated, placing a supporting hand on Mac's shoulder.

"She's our techie…"

"She?" Kim repeated, a little stunned. "I thought Riley was a man…"

"Aw, come on Kimmy…" Alex said with his best shit eating grin, "That shouldn't surprise you..."

Kim just sighed…

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

"Hey, Riley… How is he?" Mac asked, as he re-entered the hospital room.

"Still out…" Riley answered behind her computer, "He woke up some time ago… Said he wanted to go sky-diving… I told him he had to be sober to do that…"

"And he told you about Calgary?"

"How'd you know?"

"Educated guess…" Mac smiled back. "I, uh… I brought some friends…"

Mac motioned for the twins to enter the room.

"Riley, Alex and Kim…" Mac presented, gesturing between them, "Alex and Kim, Riley…"

"Nice to meet you ma'am… I'm Alex." Alex greeted, giving Riley's hand a soft but firm squeeze. "Mac didn't warn us about you being so pretty…"

Riley blushed and looked down as Alex released her hand. "Thank you…"

"Well, he just stole my line…" Kim sighed as he stepped over to Riley to shake her hand, "Pleased to meet you… And you do look lovely…"

"Thank you…" Riley smiled, blushing even more.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

As Mac and Riley discussed something regarding Jack, Kim pulled Alex far enough away for them to whisper in private.

"Dude, please let me flirt with her…"

"Why?"

"Because she looks like a Goddess!" Kim reasoned.

"And that's exactly why I won't lay off…" Alex smirked back.

"Can't you like, just hope for MacGyver to play for your team? The second team you're playing?"

"Oh, now this comes down to me being bi? Is that it?" Alex feigned offense, but grinned when he looked back at his brother.

"You know that isn't it…" Kim stared at his brother.

"Yeah, I know…"

"But you're ALWAYS flirting, whenever you get the chance… You hooked up with Carmen less than a month ago… Please let me get my chance with Riley… Please…"

Alex grinned, and looked over at the other team.

"Okay…" he answered chuckling. "But you're on wingman duty the next time we're at a bar…"

"Deal!"

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

It took about half an hour before Jack decided to grace them with another trip back to consciousness.

"Oh, crap…" he gasped as he came to, "How long was I out for?"

"Last stretch? About 90 minutes…" Riley answered, placing a hand on the older man's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I should be hungover…?" Jack answered with a slight growl, "I'm at the hospital, right?"

"Yeah, buddy…" Mac shot in, "Are you still as fuzzy as the last time I was in here?"

"Fuzzy?"

Riley let out a laugh, "Yeah, you tried to convince Mac and I to become a couple… Said we'd make pretty cute babies…"

Jack grimaced at how free-spoken he had been, then he looked up at the both of them.

"Well, I wouldn't be wrong…" he justified, earning himself a bark of laughter from both of his friends. "Now, who is that?"

"I'm Kim, I'm with the LAB…"

"LAB?" Jack sobered up a little bit more, "Like in traveling around the world, saving people, hope to not get killed… LAB? Get caught and you might as well be on your own? LAB?"

"You've heard of us…" Alex spoke from the other side of the room, out of Jack's line of vision.

"And there's two of you…" Jack gasped, baffled by the sight of the (near) identical twins.

Alex nodded and stepped closer. "Yep…"

"What are you doing here?"

"Needed a few stitches and some fiberglass…" Alex answered holding up the black cast. "Met Mac upstairs…"

"You know these guys?" Jack looked over at Mac, slightly surprised.

"Got to know them…" Mac corrected, "Figured it could be fun to get to know them better. You know, in case we ever team up…"

Kim chuckled, "We've never really found anyone to team up with, who was up for a second mission with us… But you're welcome to try…"

"Think we might have to take a raincheck on that one…" Jack drawled, "There's probably a reason for me being in this bed, right? And I'll probably feel it later on…"

"Yeah, your leg is busted." Riley explained, for the nth time. "I took the liberty to cover it up… The sight of it kinda freaked me out."

"Did it look bad?"

"They have your leg in one of those metal cages that resemble a green-house skeleton…" Mac explained, shuddering slightly as his mind brought up the picture.

"I F'ed up… Big time…" Jack stared down at the duvet covering his lower half, then he looked up at Mac. "What the heck happened to your hand? You didn't injure it back in Iraq, now did you?"

"No…" Mac shook his head.

"You lost it?" Jack asked with concern.

Mac nodded shamefully.

"Kid…" Jack drawled, with all the warmth his voice could muster, "I'm alright, we're all alright… Come here…"

Mac didn't wait a second when Jack held his arms out, waiting to give a hug. A hug Mac so desperately needed, no matter who was there to witness it. It didn't really matter that all his walls came crumbling down at that moment, that all his tears burst through the dam. That he sobbed like a little kid against Jack's shoulder. It didn't matter. Because Jack was there, and he was safe…

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

"We'll see you later…" Kim whispered to Riley, as the twins headed for the door. "Looks like it's time for us to re-fuel on some coffee…"

"Wait…" Riley said and picked up her wallet, "I'll join you…"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so…
> 
> Hope I didn't ruin this… AKA, hope you enjoyed it…

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. So… That was a start. I’ll be back with more, just need to write it first. Also, I might need some sleep too…
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this so far…


End file.
